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There are lots of ancient commentaries on the book, most notably Origen's. However these seem to be chiefly interested in spiritual content (questions like what horses bridles/lilies may represent), I am unaware of any that concern themselves with the story of the book before the 12th century. By story of the book I mean, things like: who is saying each line, what the scene they are in is, how the narrative has developed from previous scenes.

It seems unlikely to me that Christians (and Jews) would read the book for well over a millennia before anyone thought to ask questions about the narrative of the book.

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  • Why do we think that the book has a narrative? Not everything does.
    – DJClayworth
    Commented Mar 7, 2022 at 15:16
  • If you were aware of a commentary from before the 12th century that tells us it doesn't have a narrative, i would be very interested in that. The only ones i am aware of that don't see a narrative in Song of Songs are from the last 200 years
    – Abijah
    Commented Mar 7, 2022 at 15:34

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Gregory of Nyssa (335-395) wrote a complete commentary on the Song of Songs, though I can't tell whether his is the oldest complete Christian commentary. It has been translated by the Hellenic College Press in Boston. Ireneaus (b.130) comments briefly on a single verse in his 1st letter to the Ephesians (17).

I did not research Jewish commentaries but there are certainly many, many of these. The medieval commentary of Rashi at Chabad.org might be a place to start. Rashi (Shlomo Yitzchaki) himself lived from 1040 to 1105, but he references other older commentaries.

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    Btw your link doesn’t work
    – Luke Hill
    Commented Mar 6, 2022 at 0:51
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    Does Gregory of nyssa, try to work out the narrative of the book? I.e. who is talking, the scene and how the story is progressing in each section?
    – Abijah
    Commented Mar 6, 2022 at 11:18

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